I stayed away from most of the last K&D shows for obvious reasons but I decided to do a little mining for some favorite individual songs of the period knowing Jerry & Bob were pulling more of the weight. Maybe the best audience recording I've heard, sounds like you're in the hall. Full throated rich clear separation of all instruments and very little audience noise. Keith is there but hardly in the mix, only heard a little tinkle on NFA. Donna seems missing in total. Highlight for me is the "It's all over now". Beautifully stretched out on the second jam, Jerry's just about note perfect and Bob is raking the Ibanez for all it's worth. Basically a 5 piece band this night and the move to Brent 3 months later was the best move they could make.

Please be forewarned. This five star denotation is for the second set only.

With that caveat, lets get to the start of the show...which is very strange. First off, I was surprised that none of the remastering and transferring folks caught Jerry Moore’s volume adjustment in the first five seconds of Bobby singing Promised Land? I had to seriously dial it down almost 50% in Graphic Fade to equal the rest of the tune. But even before Bobby started singing, Jerry’s intro was very strange being off tempo, extremely short, and unremarkable - as though he had never played the song before? But the question was answered after the song was over with Bobby apologizing to the crowd for the band being late. Ah ha (an hour late I just read in another review). BTW, I could barely hear that comment during the crowd's cheering. But luckily, I was trained to hear the dinner bell from a half mile away. ;^ )

Well, to be blunt, Promised Land is a mess with absolutely no mojo from Bob or Jer. But I won’t hold it against them for it being discombobulated and forgettable. Shit happens. Unfortunately, their rush to get onto the stage and the mental mayhem and poor karma that surrounded the group migrated though the rest of the set. The best two words to describe it are uptight and unfocused. It also didn’t help that both Jerry’s and Bob’s vocals can only be categorized as weak. And indeed, it confirms why I tossed the set forty-two years ago and only kept the second about a year after they breezed through.

This really is a tale of two different sets, because I am absolutely certain the Boyz all looked at each other sheepishly during intermission, knowing they'd laid an egg (Love that mix of metaphors.). And I’ll bet they didn’t say a word, or didn’t have to say much, vowing to change things. And boy did they ever!

The second set is much, much better with the band being a little more relaxed and focused. As can be readily seen, it’s an up-tempo, dynamite setlist with the band doing a good job of salvaging what otherwise could have been a complete disaster of a show. Mind you, the second set is not a 180 degree - "X" Factor - blowout. It's more like, I would guestimate, a 145 degree turnaround.

Since I hadn't heard the set in years, I decided to listen to it a second and third time from it popping up in my iPod's Shuffle on the road where I was just mindlessly grooving. As a concentrated study and with an honest assessment, I consider it a competent, well played performance with the Boyz regaining some of that magical ju-ju we all know and love. The Dark Star is only one of two for the year and is short and punchy. Probably my favorite moment is the energetic transition to NFA. And it's the only DS > NFA ever done!

This is pure speculation, but I'm going to go out on a limb to say we wouldn't have had this great evening's second half if events hadn't gone the way they did. Nothing happens in a vacuum (at least on earth, anyway). And the fact the Boyz were very late, and the first set wasn't up to their expectations, we are now the lucky recipients of a wonderful hour and a half of music. We might not have even gotten a Dark Star out of it since it was such a rare animal after '74 (There were only six Dark Stars played between '75 and '89.)? In any case, you’re missing something special if you don’t have this second set in your collection. It's a thoroughly enjoyable listen and every bit of what it looks like on paper.

And yes, I agree with everybody else. Jerry Moore's recording is a beautiful one. Ahhh, the days of no official Taper's Section.

While my ears may not be “conservatory trained” (give me a break!), this is a very nice show with a very lush recording - thanks to all involved!

This recording captures the room's echo quite nicely...however, from Loser on, the set deserves a booming matrix. Why no SBD source?

The stars lined up for this one. Clear PA and a superb tape job. Polished up to perfection. Many thanks to all the loving hands.......

and definitely one of the best audience recordings in the Archives.liked the Sugaree not the best by far in this era but still sweet. the Peggy-O is definitely the hi-lite of the 1st set. love the 2nd set Loser real good one this one is tight w/ emotion but the bread and butter of this set is The Other D/S Jam Other One Dark Star run. Great show in a good year would see my first show later this year at the Stanley Theatre in December easy 4 not quite a 5 but close

No doubt beautifully clean and crisp. Garcia's playing is unimaginable in the Peggyo, absolutely gorgeous...beautiful depth, so subtle, but so powerful...incredible access to Garcia's wonderful works...

Let's face it, this is one gorgeous aud recording. No question there. What is questionable is the actual performance which I felt was seriously lacking. Bobby gives it his all (excellent It's All Over Now, Miracle, Estimated) but Jerry's clearly not having a good night. Stagger Lee has to rank among the worst performances of this tune but on the flipside, Jerry just unleashes on Jack Straw with some lightning runs. That sums up this performance... Jerry's performances on his own songs are flat but on Bobby's tunes he does well which makes for a bit of an up-and-down ride.
Aside from that, the psychedelic-era run of Other One > Dark Star is pretty cool and worth a listen.

They wiped out Keith and Donna they were there in spirt (very little) only.....Garcia later!

A very nice digital remastering of a tape that circulated around upstate New York in the 1980's with the title "Grateful Dead: Somewhere On Earth". It wasn't until later someone told my circle that it was the Shea's Theatre concert of 1979.

Kudos to the taper who made such a nice recording with just a stereo pair and analog tape; some of the comments seem to suggest he is/was a well-respected recordist.

I am not a Deadhead by any stretch but I do listen to them occasionally and am familiar with their styles and periods. This performance seems very "mellow" in comparison to a standard performance by this band, and my conservatory-trained ears tell me that the band is a bit "off" at times; it doesn't seem to me that there are any keyboards present in the mix. I have wondered if the Godchauxs were both present here; is it possible this concert was performed as a quintet with no keyboards, or is Mr. Godchaux just wiped out of the mix because he wasn't playing much by this point? Enlighten me please.
Sometimes I hear something that sounds like a keyboard but there are no solos per se.

The nicest part to me is the noodling jam after the drum solos, in the key of C with the marimba-type percussion. Garcia plays some very nice lines; his time is excellent, and he's very in control of his chromaticism and targeting notes; he alters the tonality nicely to take it back to E-minor for Lesh to play his signature lick on "The Other One".

The band is maybe a little too laid back for their own good on this night, and I don't think this is one for the ages, but it certainly has its good moments. They sound like a band having some personal troubles and are in transition, though not necessarily just going through the motions for the money.

Just exactly perfect!
Every nuance is apparent in this rare gem.
I've spend hours searching out auds like this one - and now it's time to settle back and soak it all in. Thank You.

Of people who labor in love to bring us delightful sounding streams such as this. 'Tis truly shocking that tapers could get such wonderfully accurate recordings.

1979 was a challenge for we who are Phil Phreaks for in many of that year's SBD's his bass sound is farty. Not so in this masterpiece of an AUD. The bass in full force plows fertile bottomland -- kudos to Mr Ashley for bringing it to the forefront.

Perhaps the performance isn't the best ever but Jerry Moore's recording and Jay's Re-do of Charlie's Remaster makes this a soothing fire on a fiercely cold evening in Buffalo, NY.

Buffalo may be a harsh winter place but the people there rock -- no doubt about it.

There is no Donna on this recording and though I loved her dearly, she is not missed on this particular night. This was just prior to her and Keith leaving the band.

Even if the show stank (it's just the opposite), I'd listen to this anyway. Excellent reference recording to judge others by. While it lacks just the tiniest bit of top-end pinpoint clarity, the color, fullness and blend of this effort lend a very rare richness to the sound. Kudos to the boys
and the taper for a combined superlative effort!

This is actually a remaster of my remaster of someone elses transfer of jerry moores killer recoridng :)

Great job guys, The sound quality is excellent. This Peggy O was tasty. See you a the dance.

To be honest, I'm not usually a big fan of AUD tapes, but this one is simply out of this world!
Very sweet show and crystal clear sound. Jerry's guitar & voice come thru so sweetly. Give this a listen. You won't be dissapointed.